CSU student groups sign up 31,000 new voters

LONG BEACH - Cal State University student groups have registered more than 31,000 new student voters across the 23-campus system in an effort to mobilize college students to vote in next month's elections.

Sponsored by the Cal State Student Association, the voter drive will continue through Election Day on Nov. 6. Each campus has set a goal of registering 10 percent of its student population.

San Diego State and San Francisco State led the CSU by registering 4,413 and 4,060, respectively. Other campuses that registered more than 10percent included CSU Chico, Humboldt State, Cal Maritime Academy, CSU San Marcos and Sonoma State. Cal State Long Beach registered 2,066 voters.

Pedro Ramirez, vice president of legislative affairs for the CSSA, which represents the more than 430,000 students in the CSU system, said the group is working to educate voters on the impacts of the November elections. The CSU system will lose $250 million in state trigger cuts if Gov. Jerry Brown's November tax initiative, known as Proposition 30, fails.

In that worst-case scenario, the CSU plans to raise tuition by an extra $150 next semester and will cut admission for thousands of prospective students next fall.

Ramirez said he's proud of the efforts to register thousands of voters.

"This shows that CSU students are committed to protecting our state's system of higher education by voting for Prop. 30 and voting for candidates that support the CSU," he said.

In the final days remaining before the election, CSU student groups will continue to work to register more voters, he said.